The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

“Intellectuals or traders, middlemen of all kinds” could not be admitted as they would
pose competition against native businesses, industries, commerce and the professions.
Yepes concluded with a mild diplomatic rebuke to Bérenger’s appeal to Latin
America to admit the bulk of the refugees. The United Kingdom, France and The
Netherlands could not claim that their abilities to absorb further refugees had reached the
saturation point while they possessed territories in the New World. Bérenger’s appeal
must also be applied to the nations of Western Europe. He concluded by stating:
“Messieurs les français, Messieurs les anglais, Messieurs les hollandaise, it is for you to
act first: it is to you that this appeal is addressed.” 10
Columbia required immigrants to convert to Roman Catholicism and by 1938
Columbia refused visas to any applicant who lacked a valid passport or who could not
guarantee the ability to return home. Overall, during 1938 Columbia denied the entry of
ten thousand German refugees although half had family or connections with friends
within the country. 11
Fernando Garcia Oldini, the Chilean representative lauded the “humanitarian
motive” underlying the American convening of the Evian Conference. He believed,
however, that it would be a futile and “risky” exercise to attempt to achieve an
“immediate and complete solution” for the current refugee crisis due to its complexity
and the diversity of its multifaceted components involving issues of territories allotted for
resettlement, transportation, financial support and social constructions. Unless the
10 “Proceedings,” July 9, 1938, 25-27. Yepes served as Legal Adviser to the Permanent Delegation to
the League of Nations with the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
11 Judith Liken Elkin, “The Reception of the Muses in the Circum-Caribbean,” The Muses, 291-302
cited in Ryan, The Holocaust and the Jews of Marseilles, 135-137.
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